Oregon Business Association Joins Diverse Coalition of Kitzhaber Supporters
The Oregon Business Association (OBA) endorsed John Kitzhaber’s campaign for Governor today. The OBA joins a diverse coalition of Kitzhaber endorsers that includes twenty labor organizations and over 125 elected officials. Kitzhaber also boasts the support of Oregon Small Businesses for Responsible Leadership and the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association.
In a statement from the OBA PAC Board, Chair Scott Bolton stated, "Governor Kitzhaber earned the OBA endorsement by honestly addressing the difficult issues we are facing as a state and by committing to address the challenges ahead in partnership with Oregon’s businesses."
The OBA is a coalition of over 300 businesses, varying in size, from throughout Oregon. The OBA’s membership includes some of Oregon’s most well-known homegrown companies such as Neil Kelly Company, Norm Thompson, Powell’s Books, the Yoshida Group, Threemile Canyon Farms and Sokol Blosser Winery as well as some of the state’s major corporations including NW Natural, NIKE, PGE, Wells Fargo Bank, The Standard and Harry & David. The OBA provides bipartisan, statewide business leadership that strives to ensure Oregon’s continued economic competitiveness.
John Kitzhaber is a former two-term Governor of Oregon. An emergency room physician from Roseburg by trade, he has also served in the Oregon House of Representatives and as the Oregon Senate President. In his career he enacted many progressive reforms, including the Oregon Health Plan, the Oregon Education Act for the 21st Century, the Oregon Children's Plan, and the Oregon Salmon Plan. Since leaving office in 2002, he has continued to work on health care reform, natural resource issues and energy policy, leading several nonprofit foundations and boards.
